For many moms (like me), the most crucial milestone in a baby's life is the day he or she can go in the gym daycare. I specifically switched gyms when my first baby was 3 months old to go to a much more expensive gym just so I could work out in peace. But most gym babysitters can't change diapers, and every once in a while, I would get that call while I was working out. "Your baby has a poop."
It didn't happen every day and I always responded immediately, but there was always a part of me, especially if it was toward the end of my workout, that wished I had the courage to say: "Just let her sit in it for a few more minutes."
It seems I am not alone. A post on CafeMom's community wall discusses this, and amazingly, there really ARE moms who have said this! Most in the discussion were appalled, but I say more power to those moms. We get one hour of peace a day, why shouldn't we want it all?
Now, keep in mind this is coming from a mom who never had the balls to do this myself. I always went down with a smile on my face and changed my kids within seconds of getting the call, but it was frustrating, especially when it came at the end of my allotted time and I only had a few more minutes in my workout. Usually I just had to end it then and there, which is a bummer for moms who are really into working out.
But it's more than that, too. Obviously, it depends on whether a person is called out at minute 50 or minute 2, but 10 minutes of diaper sitting isn't going to hurt a baby, and gym daycare workers can deal with the smell for a few more minutes.
Maybe the solution is to have better trained workers who would be able to change diapers. Personally, I would gladly pay more for babysitting and for the gym with the guarantee that I could work out uninterrupted. Maybe not all moms can do that, but I would have.
Part of the reason I was always so quick to respond was because of how it looked. I would never be able to make my child wait in front of others, but let's face it, at home, kids sometimes sit in dirty diapers. If you have more than one child and you are in the middle of making dinner and your older child has an issue, your child might wait 10 minutes to have his bum changed. Ten minutes doesn't cause a diaper rash or cause the child any pain. Obviously, we aren't condoning neglect or waiting for hours, but the difference between 5 and 15 minutes isn't going to kill anyone.
People need to ease up a bit on moms. To me this smacks of society's expectations. Moms should be MOMS all the time. They should never value their own needs above their child's even for a single minute and they should always jump when called. Otherwise they are a bad mom.
I say no. I say moms who put on their own life belt first are better moms. I say their kids turn out more independent and better adjusted. I never would have had the courage to say "let her sit in it," but I say more power to those moms who do. Those 10 minutes may mean more in terms of mom's sanity than anyone can possibly understand.
Do you think these moms who said "wait" are wrong?
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Comments 131
And if the gym day care changes a diaper and gets a germ from it and passes it on to your child, would you like that? Oh yes, it's annoying to get the call to change a poopy diaper. But really, that's the agreement of the gym. If you don't like it, buy some work out DVDs and work out at home.
As a previous manager of a gym daycare where we weren't allowed to change diapers because of the licensing requirements, yes, it is not fair to make your child wait and sit in a dirty diaper because you don't want to be inconvenienced. If you want that, send your child to a real daycare and pay extra for it. If not, take a minute to change your kid and finish your workout. Our biggest pet peeves were moms that couldn't be bothered to take a minute to come change their kid and we kept having to hound them and eventually threaten to ban them form the childcare if they refused to come change their kid. So selfish.
Wow, a lot of haters on this article. I completely agree with the writier. An extra 10 minutes isn't going to hurt anyone. Y'all are trying to make yourselves look like perfect parents. NO parent changes the diaper RIGHT AWAY every time. Leaving a diaper to wait every once in a while isn't that big of a deal.
What makes me laugh the most is that going to the gym's childcare room is her children's most "crucial" milestone. What a self absorbed, narcissistic, selfish idiot. Walking? Meh, who cares. Sitting up? Eh. But being able to go to the gym childcare so you can feed your ego for an hour? OMG!!
The subject of this is just too obnoxious for words. The only justifiable reason I can see making your child wait in a diaper is if you are in a car driving and are not far from your house, with no other options of changing the child. It's not always possible to pull over and change your child along the side of the road, and depending on where you live, no where clean to do it. Otherwise, change the diaper. I even had cloth diapers just in case we ran out of disposibles because I didn't want to have to worry about my kids being miserable. Honestly, instead of taking your kid to the gym childcare center, why don't you just hire an actual babysitter or nanny? That way, your child is cared for (#1 priority here) and your workout won't get interrupted.